What you can see on the Palma webcams
From the seafront you look across rows of masts in the marina towards the cathedral and the Almudaina palace, with the towers of the old town above the walls. From higher up on the western side of the harbour, the view takes in the ferry terminals, the cruise quays and the bay beyond, with ships arriving and leaving through the day. Both cameras move, so the picture changes from one visit to the next.
Palma port, ferries and cruise ships
High on a hotel on the western side of the harbour, this camera looks down over Palma's port: the ferry terminals, the cruise quays and the open bay beyond, with the city in the distance. Its operator moves it through the day between the port, the airport approach, the city and the beach, so the picture changes, and on many days it follows the big ships as they arrive.
Ship lovers use it to watch the ferries to Barcelona, Valencia and Menorca turning in the harbour and the cruise liners coming alongside early in the morning. For everyone else it is a good guide to the weather over the bay: haze, sea fog or a clear horizon.
Palma seafront: the cathedral from the Paseo Marítimo
This camera stands above the Paseo Marítimo, the seafront avenue that runs along the bay of Palma, and moves between several views. At its widest it looks across the marina, packed with yachts and masts, to the old town, with the cathedral and the Almudaina palace rising above the walls; at other times it zooms in on the Gothic towers or follows the cycle path and palms along the promenade.
It is the camera that best shows Palma itself: the cathedral catching the low sun in the evening, the colour of the sky over the old town and the traffic of boats in the marina. Late afternoon and evening are its best hours, when the stone of La Seu turns golden.
A harbour city
Palma has lived off the sea since Roman times, and it still does. Ferries leave for Barcelona, Valencia, Ibiza and Menorca, and in season several cruise ships can be alongside on the same morning. Inside the cathedral, Antoni Gaudí worked on the restoration of the interior in the early twentieth century; outside, the lake of the Parc de la Mar, below its walls, catches the reflection on still mornings.
When to watch Palma
Mallorca is one hour ahead of the UK. The cathedral faces the bay to the south, and its stone glows in the low evening light, above all in winter. Cruise ships usually arrive early in the morning and sail in the evening, the liveliest moments on the harbour. Winter days are often clear and mild, around 15 °C at midday.
Around Palma
Bellver Castle, round and fourteenth-century, looks down on the harbour from a wooded hill to the west. The Paseo Marítimo leads east past the old town to the small beaches of Portixol and Ciutat Jardí, and the long sands of Playa de Palma begin just beyond, beside the airport.
Visiting Palma
The airport is about 5 miles (8 km) east of the centre, with buses into town. The old town is best explored on foot: the cathedral, the Almudaina, the Arab baths and the shopping streets around the Born are all a short walk from each other. Expect queues at the cathedral in the middle of the day.
